Apparatus for diluting gas



June 11, 1935. H, EE E Y 2,004,311

APPARATUS FOR'DILUTING GAS Fil d A g. 9, 930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l1, fleet/e2 June 11,' 1935. H. CLEEVELY 2,004,311

APPARATUS FOR DILUTING GAS Filed Au -9, 1930 2 sheets-sheet 2 1 compressed. petroleum gas and which it is. desired to dilute. The addition of this diluent or carbureting medium is usuallyaccomplishedby means of a mechanical device driven by some'ex Patented June 11, 1935 APPARATUS FORqDEuTrNo Z. GAs

. This invention relates to ameth'od of utilizing I liquefied or compressed gases, such as'onesof the highly volatile liquefied petroleum gases,-for' instance propane or a mixture of similargases, whichare normally put up in cylinders having suitable connections for conducting the gasfrom the cylinder to applianceswhere thevaporized gas is to be used. Because of the relatively small volume of liquid contained in these cylinders and the unnecessarily high heat value of the gas, the

gas is too 1 expensive 1 to be used for ordinary domestic purposes as the average" bottled gas costs. the consumer approximately $18 per 1,000

cubic feet and the heat value is too high to be 1 realized with ordinary use and the average ap pliances .to! give any usefulness commensuratewith the amount paid. It is possible, by the addition of air, or some other suitable'diluent, to give a diluted gas, having a greater volume and; :3 a proportionately less B. t. u. value per-cubic foot. The invention also relates tothe utilization of gas. formed by the expansion of previously ternal force and it is one of the objects f the present invention to providemeans for diluting gas under pressure and to use thegas pressure 1 A further object is to provide a caused by the natural volatility of the gases when compressed to a liquidstate to operateadevice' to inject, into and mix with the rich gas the diluent in suitable proportions. to produce: the

1 desired finished gas, or..t0 use the pressure of '2. .1 diluent toinject and mix with the diluent the gas desired to be used. 1

.A further. object is to provide a mechanism of this character which is operateduautomatically and in which the pressure or :the vaporized. liquefiedgor compressed gas willloperate a pump, as it may be termed, causing the injection of. air! or other diluent into the streamof vaporized gas or use the pressure of the diluentfor operating 7 1 of my invention.

the pumpas the case may be. 1 1 1 this character which is particularly designed to secure a proper proportioning of a gas with a 1 diluent and which is based on the principle of 1 positive volumetric displacement or in other words by an apparatus of this character in which theproportioning of the two gases is securedby a simultaneous positive displacement of two volumes of thetwo gases in theircorrect pro ertions andthepositive mixing "or intermingling" of these two gases in a common'discharge pipe, the mechanism being suchas to secure this positive proportioning by volume of thetwo gases. Other objects will appear in thefcourseef the.

following description.

fore, at any temperature above 44f (see Figure 1).-

mechanism of i My inventionis illustrated in the accompany- 1 ing drawings,--wherein: 11 1 Figure l is an elevation of two gas tanks and showing my mechanism applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a side elevationof one of the gas tanks on an enlarged scaleshowing my improved mech anism applied thereto; 1

Figure 3iis a vertical sectional view through 1 the two. diaphragm chambers of my apparatus and showing in elevation the allied mechanism;

1 Figure 4 is avertical sectional' view through the valve chamlber andthe valve therein, but the valve being shown ina different position from that shown in Figure 3. 1

. The liquefied gas, as'I have illustrated; i s contained in the two tanks I OL If a commercial propane, as now on the 'market,'is used, theprodu'ctfin the tanks has no pressure at 44 below 'zero, under which condition, it isliquid, 44 below i 11 zero beingthe boiling point or the gas. Therebelow zero;

you must have it under pressure to keep it a liquidand as the temperature goes up, the "pressure increases. 1

1 Thus at 32" orfree-zing, there is about lbs. pressure on the tank at 70 F. there is 125 pounds pressurerand at 105F., 225 pounds-pressure so that at all usual temperatures,thatis, anything above44 below zero, there Willbe a pressure due to the liquid trying to vaporize. p

ordinary installations, {there is usually a gas storage tank containing the highly-volatile liquid petroleum gas, also suitable connections for conducting-the gas fromthefcylinder to the regular inlet and. a. suitable regulator for reduc ingthevaiylng tank pressure to a constant outlet pressure for'domestic use in conventional am plianc'es. if

Referring particularly to Figures 2 and 3, it ill be seen that my apparatus isassociated with a pressure reducing regulator I2 or like'device;

be of any suitable character v From each of thetanks I0, leads apipe; l3,;the'entry of which is controlled by-a. valve I4 on [6 1 from which" l2 andjopens into able character shown as havingtherein a D-valve.

l B, the stem I 9 o f whichiextends out through the valve casing. Thevalve and forms no part the tank and these pipes I3lead through manifold valves l5 to a manifold fitting a pipe connection leads to the 1 regulator 12." A pipe ll leads from the regulator. a valve casing fl 1 of any. suit- This pressure regulator l 2 may casing is formed/with" two dischargeports 20 and 2| andwith a medi- 1 ally disposedport 22. and 2| lead into. a diaphragm casing designated generally 23 havingtherein a medially disposed "Ifhe discharge ports 20 diaphragm 24 ofany suitable character and act-1 ing as apiston. This diaphragmseparatesthe interior of the casing 23 intotwo chambers.

is a relatively large diaphragm casing 21 divided into two chambers by the relatively large diaphragm 28. Stud bolts 29 extend out from the casing 2'! and support the casing 23. The casings 23 and 21 are each formed in two sections held together by bolts upon the respective. diaphragms. The details of construction'of these diaphragm chambers might be modified in many Ways and the showing therefor is purely illustrative.

Entering each of the diaphragm chambers in the casing 2'! arethe inlet pipes 30, each having therein an upwardly opening valve 3!, shown as check valves closing. against pressure from Within the diaphragm casing and opening when the pressure is reduced. Check valve casings 32 and- 33' also open into two chambers of the casing 21' and discharge: intoa common pipe 34 which is.

. connected by a T' 35 to; a pipe 36 leading from the port 22. Beyond the T 35 there is provided the discharge pipe 31 whereby diluted gas is carriedv tothe point where it is to be used.

The diaphragm 28 is connected to the diaphragm 24. by means. of. the rod 26 which passes through stuffing boxes in the diaphragm casings 23- and 211 and which is connected to the center of the diaph-ragmlfl.

For the. purpose of: operating the slide valve l8, 1 provide a lever 38 pivoted upon a bracket and, formed as illustrated with afork 60 in the end of which is provided with a stud 44- operating.

upper end of the lever.v The stem l9 of. the D-valve. is shown as provided with two spaced studs 4!.

Pivoted tov a bracket 42. is. a lever it, the lower within the fork 40 and operating between the two studs 4.1 as. shown in Figures 3 and 4 I A spring 45 is attached at its upper end to. a stud 4-6: which is disposed immediately above the pivotal: center of the lever 43, the lower end of. the spring being attached to a stud ll on the. lever 43-. The actionof this spring, therefore,, is. to suddenly throw the lever in one direction or the other: as the lever passes its dead. center and thus the: lever is very suddenly thrown from one of its postions tothe other under the action-v of. this spring after the lever has passed its dead center.

position. shown in Figure 3 in dotted; lines, then the. vaporized liquid discharged from either one of the tanks I passesdown the pipe Ill and is,

discharged by means. of the port 2| intothe chamber on the. right-hand side. of thediaphragm casing 23.. This vapor being under high. pressure acts. to force the. diaphragm 24- 110% the left in Fig-- ure. 3 and force any gas. that may be in the left hand chamber outwardthrough the ports 22!. and.

22. into. the pipe 36. The movement of the diaphragm. 24 to. the left in Figure. 3 shifts thev rod 26. toward the. left and this shifts the diaphragm 28 toward. the left As. the; diaphragm shifts any air or other diluent contained within the left hand chamber 2T will be forced out through the 'check valve .33 into the pipe 34 and mixed with the gas discharged intothe. pipe. 31. from the pipe 35. As the diaphragm 38 moves to the. left. Figure 3, it will act to draw in a fresh supply of .air through the inlet pipe and valve in theji'ight hand chamber so that this right hand chamber of the diaphragm casing 21 will fill with air While the air in the left hand chamber is being discharged.

As the rod 26 moves to the left in Figure 3 under pressure of the gas in the right hand chamber of casing 23, it will act to shift the lever 38 in the direction of the arrow in Figure 3. This will cause a movement of the lever 43 against one of the studs 4| in a direction to shift. the slide valve 18 from the position shown in Figure 3 to that shown in Figure l, but as the lever 43 passes beyond this center of motion, the spring 45 will cause the sudden and quick movement of the lever over to its position shown in'Figure 4, thus causing a quick movement of the valve to the position shown in Figure l. This will allow the gas topass into the left hand chamber of the casing 23 and the diaphragm will move toward the right in Figure 3, forcing the gas accumulated in the right hand chamber out through the port 22 into the pipe 36; and. causingthe reverse movement of the diaphragm. 28, forcing air out from the right hand chamber of the casing 21 and drawing air into the left hand chamber thereof. Thus, there will be a continuous and automatic oscillation of the connecting rod 26- and or" the two diaphragms and the valve. It will be seen that. with this. mechanism, the gas under pressure acts as the motive power for a motor 23 whereby the air or other diluent is pumped into the. stream of gas issuing from one or the other of the diaphragm chambers and that thus I provide means whereby the pressure of the. liquefied or compressed. gas is utilized. for the purpose of pump.- ing diluent thereinto, and that I do away with the necessity of using any extraneous; pumping. means operated by an extraneousmotor.

This process difiers; from the present methods which may have been employed for diluting gaseous vapors in that it requires no external force for operation, making use of the pressure of the.

or: a mixture of, these or similar gases or liquids.-

These gases are liquefied and shipped as liquids for. convenience, as. one gallon propane equals. 36 cubic feet of gas and one gallon of butane. equals 32. cubic feet of gas. One. cubic footv of i j propane. contains: two thousand, five. hundred The operation of this mechanism is as follows.:--Assuming, that the. slide valve: I8. is in thetwenty-one B. t. it. and one: cubic foot of butane, three: thousand, two hundred and seventy-four B. t. u.. and mixtures of these gases having a B. t. u. value in proportion. to the percentage of the foregoing or other gases or liquids which. may be used. The gas thus sold is used in. places out of reach of manufactured or natural gasand. is used extensively in houses. The gas: can also be used to enrich leaner gas or when diluted can be piped to serve more than one home or outlet.-

Of course, piping such a needlessly high B. t. u. value gas which is quite expensive, is, unprofitable, but in some cases, it is being done. Also by means of compressors or blowers equipped with proportioning devices. to control the ratio to draw ofithe gas as. fast} as desired asbysoi doing the cylinder refrigerates; lowering theteme perature of the, liquid and hencepreventing the vaporization :of the liquid. This is generally overcome by making special. installations ;of

large size orby manifolding together smaller units both of which are expensive, notonlywin.

equipment investment; but in operating costs; so expensive as, to be practically prohibitive-m In my system, this difliculty is. practically eliminated, in the average installation; due; ,to the reduction of the rate of -vaporization of the liquidin thecylinders. I x:

My f method and mechanism" particularly: adapted for use with petroleum gaslvaporizing' from a liquid state that operates to decrease the B. t. u. value of one gas or increase the B. t. u. value of another or for mixing gases indesired proportions for any other purposes,

= While my system will function as'above described, particularly in the case of liquefied pe troleum gas installations, it may alsobeused on gases whichareunder pressure, due tomore or less compression, such for instance,as natural.

gas from a pipe-line ,or from atank and this pressure can beutilized for the operation of the system as previously mentioned. In other Words; i

diluent may be under pressure and hencebe,

In this case, the diluent gas is passed to one side or the other of the motor diaphragm, 24 while the gas to be diused to operate the device.

luted may be drawn into one side or the other of the. pumping diaphragm 28. Thus my apparatus is capable of use to takeingas which may be available at a pressure not suificiently high to operate the device. Under some circumstances, both the diluent gas and the gas to be diluted might be used to operate the device. My

device may be used for instance on a compressed air line and connected to city gas at a pressure of one quarter of 1a pound per square inch.

'The device will then operate to secure a proper admixture of the two gases. In many situations where compressed air is available, this compressed air may be used to dilute the gas. for use in various heating processes and as the air is available at high pressures, the resultant product or finished gas is also available to correspondingly high pressure and can be conveniently piped about. It will be understood, therefore, that broadly considered, my device iscapable of being operated by the pressure of one gas to dilute another gas and either the diluting gas or the gas tobe diluted or both may be under pressure, which pressure might be utilized to operate the device.

It will also be seen that this device will operate asa proportioning device to properly proportion one gas with relation to the other gas and it is within the purview of my invention to use this mechanism as a proportioning device.

In this case, the proportioning is accomplished by using relatively different diameters for the two diaphragms used, namely diaphragm 24 and the diaphragm .28 andby causing the gas and diluent or both to befurnished under different relative pressures. In this case, the volumes of the gases to be diluted ormixed are proportioned in a prachave a relatively short. travel ticallylconstant are controlled by the remtiv:

sizesor capacities of the two chambersmakingup" thedevice and by the pressures under which .the gas and thediluent are available at thedevice and the pressure under. which they are admitted to the'device. Obviously. it is necessary that in addi-II tion to forcing in either; the diluent orthegas, it

isnecessaryto proportion the quantities of each I.

and single diaphragmsdisposed within each 'of these casings and of such: construction thatthe diaphragms may move the full depth of the casings. and expel very nearly :all of the gaswo'r diluent on one or the other side of each diaphragm as the diaphragmsreciprocatei iMydiaphragms distance because long travel is not practicableas'the diaphragms are necessarily soft and'pliable and when exposed I tomore pressure on one side than the othenwill bag or. stretch considerably; It is, therefore;

necessaryin order to obtain satisfactory efiiciemv cies that the chamberssin 'whichthe diaphragms are used must beso'formed as .to allow orcom pensate for this physicalcondition of the diaphragms. bers shallow andqproviding. for relatively short portions of the diaphragms clampedbetwe'en relatively large rigid disks so thatlthe diaphragm's displace all or nearly'all the gas or diluent from the chambers oneach stroke as by soidoing, the ereciency of the apparatus is high and consequently the device can operate on lower gas pressure and/or deliver higher percentages of diluent per unit'of gas passed through the device than would otherwise be the case. .At the end of a stroke,

therefore, the gas chamber contains only a small the diaphragm plates and the chamber Wall, this gas being, of course, at

amountof gas between discharge line pressure. Thus, when a diaphragm an empty. gas chamber (or diluent chamber) as the volume of gas or diluent remaining in the chamber is relatively small. I claim:-

I This is secured by makingcthe chamstrokes of the .diaphragms and having the central.

completes itsstroke and reverses, ithas virtually 1. A mechanism for forcing a gaseous diluent I into a gas stream under pressure and fixedly proportioning the diluent to the gas including a rigid casing having a reciprocable diaphragm therein acting to divide the. casing into two chambers, a"

valve chamber connected to the source of gas under pressure, a discharge pipe, a single valve in the'valve chamber in one position connecting oneof said chambers with gas under pressure and connecting the otherchamber with said discharge pipe, and in the other position connecting the lastnamed chamber with the gas under pressure and the first-named chamber with the discharge pipe,

a second rigid casing having therein a recipro cable diaphragm dividing the casing into two chambers, an operative connection betweensaid piston-like elements, each chamber of the second named casing havingan inlet port connected with a source of gas diluent, a valve for said port, an outlet valve, the outlet valve communicating with the discharge pipe from the first named valve chamber, and-means operated bythe first named piston-like element for alternatelyshifting said last named outlet valve in one direction or the other, including a lever, a pivoted arm connected to the last named valve, and means for causing a sudden movement of the last named valve to its full. position in one direction or the other after the lever has been shifted av predetermined distance;

2. A mechanism for forcing a gaseous diluent into a gas stream and proportioning the diluent to the gas in the stream, including. a rigid. casing having therein a single reciprocable diaphragm dividing the casing into two chambers,.each chamber having a port, a valve casing connected to said ports and having a discharge pipe leading therefrom and having an inlet pipe leading thereto and connected to the source of gas under pressure, a single valve disposed within the valve casing. and in one position connecting the inlet port of one of said chambers with the source of gas and the port of the other chamber with the discharge pipe and in its other position connecting the inlet port of. the other of said chambers with a source of gas and the port of the other chamber with the discharge pipe, a second rigid casing having therein a single reciprocable diaphragm dividing the casing into two chambers, each chamber having an inlet valve and an outlet valve, the outlet valves being connected to a common pipe with which the discharge pipe from the valve chamber connects, a connecting rod contween saidstops and operatively connected to the connecting rod between the diaphragms.

3. A mechanism for forcing a gaseous diluent into a gas stream and proportioning the diluent to the gas in the stream, including a rigid casing and in its other position connecting the port of the last named chamber with the inlet port and the inlet port of the first named chamberwith the discharge pipe, a second rigid casing having therein a single reciprocable diaphragm dividing the casing into two chambers, each chamber having an inletcheck valve and an outlet check: valve, the outlet check valves being connected to a common pipe with which the discharge pipe from the valve chamber connects, a connecting rod connecting the diaphragms of both of the chambers, and means engaged with the connecting rod for automatically operating the valve in the valve casing, including a valve stem having stops, a lever pivoted at one end and operating between the stops and the valve stem, a second lever having a forked head engageable with the first named lever, the opposite end, of the lever being operatively connected to the connecting rod between the diaphragms, and resilient means urging the first named lever from a medial position in one direction or the other.

HARRY CLEEVELY. 

